Air cooled seat cushion construction



Sept. 28, 1965 R. D STONE ETAL AIR COOLED SEAT CUSHION CONSTRUCTIONOriginal Filed Oct. 16, 1959 INVENTORS Ralph Dudlgy Siam! y 301mg C065United States Patent 25,868 AIR COOLED SEAT CUSHION CONSTRUCTION RalphDudley Stone, Fort Smith, and John F. Cobb, Van Buren, Arie, assignors,by lncsne assignments, to Heckethorn l\'lanuincturing Co., Dycrsburg,Tenn., a corporation of Colorado Original No. 3,038,176, dated June 12,1962, Ser. No. 846,858, Oct. 16, 1959. Application for reissue Aug. 7,1964, Ser. No. 399,426

2 Claims. (Cl. 5-347) Matter enclosed in heavy brackets 1 appears in theoriginal patent but forms no part of this reissue specification; matterprinted in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

Our invention relates to air cooled seat cushions of a type adapted forvehicles and providing for free circulation of air in any directiontherethrough.

One of the important objects of our invention is to provide a ventilatedseat cushion which is adapted to be selectively placed upon vehicleseats, and which embodies one or two connected seat cushions having aplurality of helical wire springs secured in a substantially parallelplane and with the opposite ends of said helical springs connected toopposite members of a relatively rigid metal wire frame; and in whichthe opposite ends of the helical springs, which are bent over the rigidframe members, are substantially enclosed and guarded by longitudinallyextending channel-like metal clamps or binding members which are adaptedto prevent detachment or disengagement of the spring ends from the wireframe members and to prevent projection of the ends of said helicalsprings through the upper and lower panels or coverings of saidcushions.

A further important object of our invention is the provision ofrelatively inexpensive ventilated air cooled seat cushions wherein thecushion units comprise a plurality of interwoven and interlockedsubstantially parallel helical spring-like coils whose opposite ends aresecured about opposite members of a relatively rigid wire frame, andlongitudinally extending metal clamps or guards suitably secured aboutthe opposite ends respectively of said helical springs to therebyprevent disengagement and removal of said spring ends and prevent theirprojection through the perforated panels of the cushions to therebyavoid damage or injury to persons or to the upholstery of the vehicles.

Other and further important objects of our invention will be apparentfrom the description of the following specifications and drawings.

On the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an enlarged elevational and fragmentary view of a portion ofa spring unit forming a part of our ventilated seat cushions, andillustrating the end portions of the helical springs hooked and securedabout one end member of the rigid frame wire of said spring unit,

and illustrating with the parts broken away, portions of one of thesecured and protecting clamps secured about the ends of said springs.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on a vertical plane, with partsbroken away, of portions of two connected together ventilated seatcushions and illustrating the protecting clamps or guards secured aboutthe opposite ends of the helical springs.

FIGURE 3 is a reduced elevational view showing one of our novel seatcushions, with the enclosing netting and covering as broken away, andshowing a part of the second connected back cushion with parts brokenaway, and illustrating the securing and protecting clamps mounted aboutthe ends of the helical coils and over the end mem bers of the frame.

As shown on the drawings:

Numeral 10 designates a substantially rectangular metal Re. 25,868Reissued Sept. 28, 1965 frame preferably formed of relatively stiffwire, the ends of which are bent into alignment and adjacent each otherand secured together by a metal sleeve or ferrule 11 which is pressed onsaid ends, as indicated at the upper right of FIGURE 1.

Numeral 12 designates a plurality of metal helical springs formed ofwire and which are parallel and interwoven so that their adjacentconvolutions are interlocked as illustrated. The two springs 12 adjacentthe side members of the frame 10 have their convolutions woven over andabout the two side members of the frame 10, as illustrated at the leftof FIGURE 1. The opposite ends of said springs 12 are bent and doubledback and mounted, anchored and pressed over and about the oppositc endmembers of the frame 10, as illustrated in FIGURES l and 2. Saidanchorage and securance holds the said springs 12 under tension and insubstantially a parallel frame.

In FIGURE 3 is illustrated also a portion of the spring unit formingpart of the back cushion in addition to the spring unit of the seatcushion.

Secured by pressing around and about the opposite end portions of theframe 10 and about the hooked or anchored end portions of the springs 12thereon are two channel-like metal flanged binding members or guards 13which enclose and protect the bent over portions of springs 12. Saidbinding members 13 each are formed by positioning a sheet metal channelover each of the opposite end members of frame 10 and mechanicallypressing the two flanges thereof together to thereby crimp and securesaid flanges together and securely mount said binding members on the twoopposite ends of each spring unit. Said binding members 13 prevent thebooked and bent over ends of the springs from coming off of the frame 10and also prevent the ends of said springs 12 from piercing through andprojecting from the covering of the seat cushions.

Numerals l5 and 16 designate two envelope-like containers or enclosureswhich are formed of meshed or netting fabric having numerous openingsbetween the strands thereof. Numeral 23 is one continuous panel of openmesh fabric which forms the back of the backrest cushion and theunderside of the seat cushion. Numeral 18 designates a panel of meshfabric forming normally the top side of the seat cushion. Numeral 19designates a panel of mesh fabric normally forming the forward side ofthe back-rest cushion.

A transverse binding strip 20 has one of its lateral edges stitched by aline of stitching 2l to one edge of the back rest fabric panel 19, andalso stitched by a line of stitching 22 to normally rear edge portion ofthe fabric seat panel 18.

Numeral 23 designates an elongated continuous fabric back panel whichextends from beyond the normally upper end edge of the back-rest springunit to points beyond the normally forward edge of the spring unit ofthe seat section.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 a fabric binding tape 24 is folded overthe adjacent upper edges of the fabric mesh panel 23 and the fabric meshpanel 19 and also over the adjacent lateral edges of said panels, andsaid folded over edge tape 24 is secured by stitching 25 which passesthrough and secures together the adjacent edge portions of said meshpanels.

The lines of stitching 21 and 22 also extend through the intermediateportion of the fabric back panel 23. Said folded tape 24 and lines ofstitching 25 continue along and extend through the folded overreinforcing edge tape along the extending adjacent edges of the seatpanel 18 and the adjacent edges of the fabric panel 23, and also alongand through the normally forward adjacent edges of the fabric panelsenclosing the scat section.

This results in the seat spring unit being enclosed and covered by anenvelope-like pocket or container of mesh fabric and also in theback-rest section being enclosed within a connected envelope-like fabriccontainer, said two fabric containers being pivotal relative to eachother permitting selective positioning thereof at varying angles onvarious vehicle seats.

The provision of the said binding clamps or guards 13 in the mannerdescribed not only aids in holding the bent over ends of the springs 12in their anchored position on said wire frames but also prevents the endof said springs from becoming detached from said rigid wire frames andprevents said spring ends from piercing and projecting from the meshfabric panels 18 and 19, which otherwise would cause damage to personsclothing and injury to occupants of said seats.

Our novel two section ventilated seat cushions provide a highlyadvantageous circulation of air below the seats and behind the backs ofvehicle drivers and occupants and prevent undesirable sweating normallycaused by the close contact of the person with the seats and with theseatbacks.

While the foregoing specification sets forth the invention in specificterms, it is to be understood that numerous changes in the shape, sizeand materials may be resorted to without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as claimed hereinafter and it is contemplatedthat various changes may be made in the embodiment of the inventionherein specifically described without departing from or sacrificing anyof the advantages of the invention or any features thereof, and nothingherein shall be construed as limitations upon the invention, its conceptor structural embodiment as to the whole or any part thereof except asdefined in the appended claims.

\Ve Claim:

1. An air cooled seat and back cushion for vehicle seats comprising aseat section and a back section the opposite end portions of saidhelical springs of said seat section frame and of said back sectionframe being wound and bent over the opposite end portions of said framesrespectivelyfl said seat section having a metal frame and a plurality ofinterwoven helical springs bent over and connected at their oppositeends to the opposite ends of said frame; said back section having ametal frame and interwoven helical springs bent over and connected to[oppostie] opposite ends of said back section frame; a pair of elongatedchannel-like metal clamping and binding members mounted over theopposite bent over connected ends of said springs of said seat sectionrespecill] tively; a pair of elongated channel-like metal clamping andbinding members mounted over the connected bent over ends of saidsprings of said back section; said metal clamping and binding membersbeing adapted to prevent unhooking and disengagement of said bent overends of said springs from said frames; a fabric mesh covering for saidseat section comprising an upper fabric panel and a normally lower panelconnected together along their peripheral edges; and a fabric meshcovering for said back section comprising a forward fabric panel and aconnected back fabric panel; said coverings and said sections beingconnected together and pivotal relative to each other.

2. In an air cooled seat cushion, a pair of substantially rectangularmetal frames, each of said frames having opposite parallel side members;a plurality of interwoven adjacent helical springs having their oppositeends hooked over and connected to two opposite side members of each ofsaid frames; a pair of elongated channellike metal clamps securelymounted about said side members of one of said frames respectively, eachof said elongated metal clamps having its opposite edge portions pressedagainst the hooked over spaced apart ends of said springs on each sidemember of said frames and extending substantially over the greaterportions of said side members respectively; a pair of elongatedchannel-like metal clamps securely mounted about the opposite sidemembers of said second frame and having its edge portions pressedagainst the hooked over opposite spaced apart ends of the said springsof said second frame; and a perforated covering enclosing said frames,said springs and said clamps; said covering extending beyond theperiphery of said frames and being secured together along its peripheraledges respectively References Cited by the Examiner The followingreferences, cited by the Examiner, are of record in the patented file ofthis patent or the original patent.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,868,279 7/32 Fhlenbeck 5-270 X 1,959,048 5/34Burch 5259 X 2,103,553 12/37 Reynolds 155-482 2,804,912 9/57 Pickard155182 FOREIGN PATENTS 299,984 9/54 Switzerland.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

